Hardly a hair's breadth between Green and SF turf stance, Laois TD claims
A Laois TD has accused Sinn Fein of making an intentionally vague call to scrap the proposed turf sale ban.
Independent TD Carol Nolan has described the call as insufficient, potentially misleading and intentionally vague.
She was speaking ahead of a Dáil debate on Sinn Fein’s Private Members Motion dealing with the rising cost of home heating fuels.
She submitted an amendment to the Sinn Fein Motion calling for an explicit commitment that the sale, marketing, and distribution of turf, either at a voluntary or commercial level will be permitted on a permanent basis.
It also seeks to categorise the cutting of turf as “a protected cultural practice” under such instruments as the Council of Europe Framework Convention on the Value of Cultural Heritage for Society, otherwise known as the Faro Convention.
“There is a very clear awareness on the ground that Sinn Fein, as the main opposition party, are trying to have their cake and eat it with respect to its policy on turf cutting and turf use. They keep saying things like the proposed ban is the ‘wrong move at the wrong time,’ and indeed it is. The problem however is that it will always be the wrong time and the wrong move when it comes to banning the sale or use of turf,” Deputy Nolan claimed.
She said: “They also talk of the need for government to support people in transitioning away from turf use. But this completely and utterly misses the point. Many families who now use turf do not want to ‘transition’ away from its use. It is their preferred form of heating for both practical and cultural reasons and that is a position that needs permanent protection.”
“There is hardly a hair's breadth in the difference between Minister Ryan and the Green’s position and that of Sinn Fein. The only way in which they diverge is that of timing. Minister Ryan and the Greens would effectively regulate turf use [out] of existence if they could. Sinn Fein just want to do it over a longer period of time. Neither of those positions is acceptable to me or my Rural Independent Group colleagues,” concluded Deputy Nolan.